The Delhi High Court has directed a surprise audit of 38 Delhi government hospitals where the NextGen e-Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) has been implemented, after a patient was allegedly denied ICU bed despite the online portal reflecting bed availability. [2026 LiveLaw (Del) 631]

HMIS is a platform designed to digitize healthcare workflows, alongside the “Delhi ICU Beds Saarthi” application which reflects real-time data concerning emergency ICU beds across Delhi hospitals.

A division bench comprising Justices Prathiba M Singh and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora was hearing a batch of matters concerning healthcare infrastructure and public health facilities in the national capital.

It has directed the Delhi Government to consider setting up a toll free number with at least 10 to 20 lines available at any point for emergency services and ICU bed availability related enquiry.

The directions come after the Amicus Curiae informed the Court that a 70-year-old woman suffering from breathing difficulty was turned away by LNJP Hospital.

The patient's family, who was present in Court, submitted that she was denied treatment despite two ICU beds being shown as available on the online portal when they reached hospital.

It was further submitted that repeated calls to the hospital helpline numbers elicited no meaningful response and on one of the phone numbers a security guard answered and he was unable to inform as to whether any ICU bed was available or not.

Calling the situation "unfortunate", the Bench observed that the incident raised serious concerns regarding the implementation of the ICU bed management system.

"This is an unfortunate situation which shows that despite the ICU beds being shown to be available on the website, the patient was not provided the same," it remarked.

The Court further found that there was a lack of uniformity in the implementation of the HMIS platform across Delhi government hospitals.

Accordingly, it directed the National Informatics Centre (NIC), led by Joint Director Aarti Garg, to conduct surprise inspections and audits across all 38 hospitals till July 31, 2026.

The audit report is to indicate whether ICU bed availability is being accurately updated on the portal, whether emergency phone calls regarding ICU beds are being properly attended to, and whether the HMIS platform is being implemented uniformly and consistently across hospitals.

The Court also asked the Delhi Government to consider establishing a toll-free helpline with 10 to 20 dedicated lines capable of providing real-time information regarding ICU bed availability and hospital specialities.

In addition, it sought a response on whether any nodal officer is responsible for ensuring that patients referred from one hospital to another are actually admitted, and, if no such mechanism exists, to place before the Court the steps proposed for establishing one.

Considering the urgency of the matter, the Bench directed that the patient be immediately referred to Dr. Amit Gupta at LNJP Hospital for allocation of an ICU bed and necessary treatment, and sought a status report by the next date of hearing.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on August 7.

Case title: Court on its own motion v. UOI

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Del) 631

Case no.: W.P.(C) 3903/2017

Click here to read order